Despite his form not being great right now David Moyes may heave a sigh of relief that he could hold onto Said Benrahma this winter.

For according to the Mirror organisers of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) are set to call off the January tournament amid worries over the Omicron Covid 19 variant.

Less than a month remains until the first game of the tournament is due to kick off in Cameroon, but reports in the French media on Wednesday suggested the competition could be cancelled amid concerns from national team coaches.

A number of Premier League teams had been due to lose players for the duration of the tournament, with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revealing talks had been taking place with a view to delaying the release of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita.

Benrahma may have expected to be included in the Algerian squad but would be a little worried over his lack of form which might have put it under threat.

However, should the tournament be called off that will be a relief regardless as the manager looks at the thinning out of his squad.

However, he is set to see Mikey Antonio called into international duty for Jamaica late in January as his national team look to qualify for the World Cup.

However, he too may be looking at his own form and wondering whether he could be omitted from the squad although frankly that looks less than unlikely.